Ghost of Eumir Marcial's Olympic loss haunts Pacquiao

HOLLYWOOD – Manny Pacquiao was hitting the mitts with Freddie Roach during Thursday afternoon’s session at the Wild Card Gym when, out of nowhere, he suddenly blurted out a phrase.

“Thinking of Eumir,” said Pacquiao, obviously referring to Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial, who also happens to be one of the fighters signed under the Filipino icon’s MP Promotions.

Here's the video. pic.twitter.com/hWYeWurrMj

— Dino Maragay (@dino_mars) August 14, 2021

When the eight-round mitt work ended, Pacquiao, who will take on Yordenis Ugas next week in Las Vegas, was asked to expound on that random thought.

It so happened that Pacquiao is regretful for Marcial losing a pivotal fight in the 2020 Olympics, a bout Pacquiao says Marcial could have won.

Marcial, a gold medal favorite in Tokyo, dropped a decision to Ukrainian Oleksandr Khyzhniak in the semifinal match of the men’s middleweight competition to settle for a bronze medal. The two fighters stood in front of each other for three rounds and swung away, with Khyzhniak getting the better of the exchanges and in the end, becoming the winner in the eyes of the judges.

The 25-year-old Marcial blitzed through his first two bouts with knockouts in the opening round before he ran into the cannonball that was Khyzhniak.

Pacquiao was very convinced that Marcial would’ve beaten the rugged and iron-chinned Khyzhniak had he relied on timing and movement instead of just plain slugging it out.

“Yung kalaban niya, walang defense. Walang style (His opponent has no defense and no style),” the fighting senator emphasized.

“Abangan niya (Time him),” Pacquiao continued. “Hindi rin siya makapag-coordinate sabay-sabay (Eumir couldn't coordinate his attacks).”

The eight-division world champion then demonstrated how Marcial should’ve done it, throwing a quick flurry then side-stepping out of danger — a style Pacquiao himself had implemented to perfection in most of his fights.

“Side (movement) ka,” he said.

With the win, Khyzhniak advanced to the final match, where he finally met his match in Brazil’s Hebert Sousa, who knocked the Ukrainian slugger out in the third round with a perfectly timed counter left hook.

Sousa had been trailing in the fight before he flattened Khyzhniak to rule the competition and take the gold medal.

Pacquiao firmly believes it could have been Marcial.